Garmin Instinct GPS Explained [GPS/Glonass/Galileo/UltraTrac]

[@remy1502]

Complete information, short video and links to more information. 10/10

[@MilefortheCamera]

Glad you liked it!

[@samuelrainville3253]

Man, you really helped me out. I watched tons of different videos to really understand the system of navigation in the Garmin Instinct, but your’s was perfect! Short, efficient and straight to the point, with the link of your source ! You really deserve more followers and likes 😉. Thank you !

[@MilefortheCamera]

Thank you, Samuel! I appreciate that! Glad you found the video helpful.

[@casperc9418]

same here... thanks

[@PeterHerget]

I didn't know you can change the GPS settings on the fly - very cool & thanks!

[@MilefortheCamera]

Ha, quite honestly I didn't notice you could do it on the fly either. I'm not sure I want to (or even have a need to) change satellite systems mid-run. But hey, I guess you could always give it a shot if something is acting funky. Cheers!

[@davey3765]

This is great! Now I know about these settings for the activity! I didnt know I had any power to fine tune them. Sound's like ultratrac would be good if your boating or fishing.

[@MilefortheCamera]

I think you're spot on with boating/fishing as a good use for UltraTrac. Glad you liked the video, cheers!

[@sevenrats]

Ultratrac is not good for boating. It's really only good if you were doing a long expedition type activity. Even then I find it useless unless you don't really care about a detailed route.

[@ParanoidLemming]

Maybe better than hiking though in my experience. The Ultratrac doesn't keep a constant connection to the GPS, it turns of and on and can be 'a few hundred feet off' for each data point (Garmin CS) due to constantly requesting a new fix. If you're hiking in steep terrain this makes the track, and the data (distance, ascent), super inaccurate. At least with boating the surface would be flat resulting in less overall inaccuracy.

[@darkstepwarrior88]

Short and helpful video about such important info. Good job

[@micheleparodi664]

Hey thanks just getting used on this watch for my runs. I'm using normal gps and it's tracking the route perfectly. Only issue is that before every run I have to calibrate both altimeter and barometer, because If I click run it gets the gps, but not the altimeter and bar..

[@Ayerborne]

Good video. Straight to the point.

[@stlmtndew2654]

Great video! I checked out the article!

[@sudiptoroy8021]

Ultratrac might be helpful when you are on a week long (or longer) hike in a place with no electricity. For example in the Himalayan interiors. Obviously not on a trail race where accuracy is most critical.

[@MilefortheCamera]

Good point! I would also assume on such a long hike that you could have a good amount of sunlight to help charge via the solar panel.

[@serhiirudenko6183]

Thanks for the video. Not so obvious where GPS settings are located. On Instinct 2 they at the same menu.

[@athorias]

I know I'm kind of late to the party, but I wanted to ask is it possible to record the track you were going? I'm planning on using this watch for mountainbiking, and since I know the trail I want to shred, I only want to record where I go. Is this possible with the Instinct?

[@MilefortheCamera]

Absolutely! The Activity tracking feature is the main way I use this watch. I'm mostly run but there are bike settings you can use and even a mountain bike specific one. Hope that helps!

[@125kingo125]

Go Hunter 🔥🇦🇺 you belong in the top 5

[@ioanpopoviciband]

I will be using this watch at my first marathon, 42 km do you think it will last the battery if I leave it on my GPS ?

[@sushantamondal]

my question while run start and finish which bottom used for checking how many kilometer run ??

[@MilefortheCamera]

It sounds like you may be asking about changing the Data Fields on the screen, right? I made a separate video that shows you how to customize what information you see on your screen while running. You can check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ_JpXidpLanoas

[@123mlmarios]

for swimming at Cyprus, where can i find the best option? thnxs!

[@jamesmote7099]

Can you pull your grid coordinates from this watch?

[@bartontactical7170]

is it possible to display the coordinates of our position with UTM projection? how does it works?

[@MilefortheCamera]

I'm not too familiar with UTM projection myself. Are you looking for an actual image of the map? If so there is no such map feature on the Instinct that I know of. I did some quick research and found this explanation from Garmin: "The GPS does not receive a UTM signal. It simply converts the position it receives from the satellites to display it in the UTM format." Hope that helps!

[@bartontactical7170]

@@MilefortheCamera me neither.. lol. But thank you anyway, it realy help. Appreciate it a lot.

[@Whatdoyourun4]

Is there an AR mode or Adventure Race mode

[@boakyebb]

How about if I just turn it off ... Will it still count my steps etc

[@andrewe.7907]

Will this work outside North America? Thx.

[@MilefortheCamera]

Absolutely. I currently live in Berlin, Germany :)

[@cpreed466]

Seems like Russia probably wanted their satellite hovering over their country for their own use. So would it be on the other side of the "globe" from us here in the US? Satellites are suspended by stationary helium balloons over our flat, none-spinning earth. How else could we access them?

[@ma.angelitalintag3705]

Does it need any internet connection to operate the gps

[@MilefortheCamera]

No it does not, everything is built in!

[@ramlysutan5661]

this is realy great & helpfull

[@loveonlysolution3749]

Hey Chriss, thks for the useful tutorials, I want to know which brand and models (preferably 1-3 years old ones) of long-lasting solar power watches you recommend for using in the middle of oceans or mountains (in emergency situations) without internet access and only a satellite connection or other map kinds which suits better in ruff conditions? It should work independently of mobile phones. I had Casio H1000 which I wasn't so proud of. Another question is, should we pay for downloading or updating any kind of Garmin maps for smart watches? Thanks in advance, dude!

[@SWIMSMARTCOACHING]

if you switch offf GPS but then go into open water swim mode does it switch itself on again for that activity?

[@dariusjohn66]

great video 👍

[@Bhunnidb]

How do you get grid coordinates

[@bartontactical7170]

does the gps function can display Z (elevation/altitude) on the screen? how?

[@MilefortheCamera]

You can display the current elevation in one of the Data Fields on your watch. When selecting the data fields there is a category called 'Elevation Fields' and there you can select 'Elevation'. Here is a video I made showing how to customize these fields in case you haven't done I yet: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ_JpXidpLanoas

[@bartontactical7170]

@@MilefortheCamera Thanks, it realy help. Appreciate it a lot.

[@boskop7094]

Hi, please, where can I find such, or similar, watch belt, and how much does it cost?

[@MilefortheCamera]

Hey there! I got this band on amazon. Unfortunately it does not look like it is currently available, but I will give you the link anyway just in case there are related products that are helpful: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071W2YKSW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[@timothyreid3061]

Just new to instinct. All I wanna do is learn how to start tracking an activity for distance, time, and maybe pace. Some of these videos do not reflect what my watch shows when pressing a particular button. I know it has to be a simple setup to start recording a run for example.

[@lc6936]

I hike a lot. I live in lower North America. What would you recommend? Thanks. 🙏

[@MilefortheCamera]

How hilly are the hikes? I just skimmed the source article again and it looks like GPS + Glonass is recommended for mountainous situations. It also said that you likely wouldn't notice a huge difference with either comabination (GPS+Galileo or GPS+Glonass) - both seem to offer a good improvement in position accuracy. Of course, using a dual system does decrease battery life so keep that in mind if you're doing any long hikes where overall battery life is a concern. Hope that helps!

[@lc6936]

@@MilefortheCamera they’re decently hilly, but not crazy. I do a lot of my hiking in Bankhead National Forest in the Sipsey Wilderness area. I appreciate the reply! Thank you!

[@TheLibbyDays]

Thanks for the video and I'll check out the article you posted as well, incase it has an answer to my question. We are doing a trek to everest base camp next year and the Garmin Instinct is on my list as a good option. Do you know if Glonass of Galileo or even the US GPS would cover that area?

[@christhrasher1942]

I’m in the military and need my watch to have a good charge for days. But I want to know how far I’ve gone. I don’t care about the route I’ve taken and don’t care if the distance is exactly what I went. I just want to have a good idea of how far I’ve gone. Is using no gps going to do that for me? Thank you in advance!

[@MilefortheCamera]

Hey Chris, days is a lot to ask for. I'm not sure if the Instinct is good enough for it, but if I were to try here is what I would do: 1) I would make sure to have the solar version so it could hopefully charge a bit with good weather. 2) use the ultra trac mode to save battery. and 3) turn off the heart rate monitor - this drains the battery quite a bit. I think if you do those 3 things then you could get a couple days out of the watch, maybe more. I know I used a standard GPS setting with no heart rate and was able to go 18 hours (105km) and still had 40% battery left at the end.

[@nagtkd777]

If I can get into the conversation, I'm in the military too, I would highly recommend you the instinct tactical solar

[@mikafoxx2717]

@@nagtkd777 if you have a pretty constant stride length, your step count can count up a rough distance.

[@jessozelami3398]

Thank you 🙏

[@markgonzales2957]

is the gps setting is 50PQS?

[@jan-kjetiljess503]

Hi, this was useful! I have a question, however, on my old Forerunner a run uploaded to Strava via Garmin Connect would show a route map in both apps. Somehow I don't get that with my Instinct Solar. Is this not a feature or am I simply not using the right setting? Cheers!

[@RichRich1955]

Check back in 2030 for an answer

[@m.kultra4101]

My battery is half dead and I just got it a day ago. Is this normal? From set up? Anyways... I think I'm gonna return it.

[@MilefortheCamera]

Did you charge it fully once you got it? If so that is definitely not normal . . .

[@GMDV09]

Thanks for the video, loved it. I am a hiker. What would you recommed for GPS in South East Asia?

[@MilefortheCamera]

Thanks for watching! My guess would be that Glonass would be the best pair as long as your hikes aren’t so long that UltraTrac makes sense. It also looks like some new Tech in the Glonass system was specifically going to help accuracy in SE Asia: www.nationthailand.com/Economy/30274674

[@martinskb_channel2823]

I still can't find how how to choose GPS options in Garmin Instinct Tactical...?

[@dwheresmymana]

The Forerunner 245 has both Galileo and Glonass options

[@MilefortheCamera]

Thanks! I haven't used that watch before so that's good to know.

[@johnbowman657]

The Forerunner 45 also has it!

[@Szymon331]

Good video, thanks :)

[@MilefortheCamera]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@user-Tinfoilhat]

Having my email sent to a publicly visible or audio message is a NO-GO. How to change it back? I want silence out of my device.

[@sagace5477]

Thank you

[@pisemper3603]

For military?

[@kimbaxter14]

I noticed you had the 3D distance and 3D speed settings to off. Have you noticed any change in accuracy if you have those settings on or off?

[@MilefortheCamera]

Hey Kim! I have actually not used them so I can't say I know how it compares. I initially looked up what they are for and found this interesting Fenix 5 forum conversation that basically convinced me to leave them turned off: forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-5-series/128787/when-should-i-use-3d-speed

[@MilefortheCamera]

But I'd be curious to hear your experience with these settings - especially if you happen to be running with a friend who does not have this feature activated. Would be interesting to compare data after a medium/long run.

[@kimbaxter14]

@@MilefortheCamera Thanks for taking the time to answer and for passing along that link. I'm going to do a little experiment on a local trail here (with and without 3D) and let you know.

[@MilefortheCamera]

@@kimbaxter14 Sounds good, Kim! I look forward to hearing what you find out!

[@lingfico]

@@kimbaxter14 what did you find out! ;-)

[@Healthyfist]

Do we pay for the gps thing?

[@MilefortheCamera]

The only cost is the watch. There are no recurring or additional fees to use any of the GPS features it has. Does that answer your question?

[@Healthyfist]

@@MilefortheCamera thank you! I asked cuz the garmin gps i have needs to get map from each country. 80 dollars for a map. Not to mention update fee and shit. If i only need to pay one time only for this, that would be great

[@MilefortheCamera]

@@Healthyfist Ah, I see. There are some devices like that where you load in maps so the device knows all the roads and information associated with them (speed limits for example). This watch does not have that capability. So the GPS functions here simply ping the location of the watch. You can create a route and load it on the watch via Garmin Connect, BUT that route info simple enables your watch to tell you when to turn to stay on your route. It doesn't actually know your route from a street map standpoint.

[@lingfico]

This watch is 2 years old. Is it still worth it or is there better options within the pricerange now? Thanks

[@MilefortheCamera]

I certainly enjoy it. I will say though, I was disappointed in the battery life on the non-solar version. I had high hopes that good sun exposure would have a significant impact on how often I had to recharge it, but that is yet to be seen. Anyway, otherwise I have enjoyed all the features it has available. Hope that helps!

[@lingfico]

Thanks 👍

[@branislavpetkovic]

No it's not 2 years old, this is Instinct Solar and it was announced in May 2020. It has completely new hardware in compare to original Instinct which is actually 2 years old. They are looking similar but Solar has engraved name at the bottom and small solar panels around display. Both are very good, but Solar is better. There is no better outdoor options in this price range.

[@MilefortheCamera]

@@branislavpetkovic I agree that this watch is great for it's price. Particularly since Garmin had been doing regular sales with $100 off. There are certainly more advanced watches out there and some with even better battery life, but for what I do (mostly long distance running) it's perfect.

[@grinder881]

I'm trying to figure out what setting to use on my watch. My last 3 runs all the same route have been 280, 241, and today 161. I've been told that using Glonass makes your watch stupid. There is ZERO chance I've been getting over 50 feet elevation, but yet my watch says 280, 241, and 161 for 3 consecutive days. Why is it so off?

[@branislavpetkovic]

Elevation in Instinct is calculated by barometric altimeter and if you want to be precise you need to calibrate it before activity. That is a simple 5 seconds process: Select ABC, display altimeter, long press menu for settings select calibrate and choose calibration method. GPS is the simplest, just select that option and its done. Second potential reason for inaccuracy is sweat. Barometer placement is not the best and if you are sweating a lot it's opening could be easily clogged. Also if you are not sure about the right elevation of your activity, find your activity on your personal Garmin Connect Web page and choose elevation correction option to correct elevation of your activities based on best possible topo data. If you can't find it just google "Garmin connect elevation correction".

[@TheDudeQB]

The Instinct has a bad placement for the barometric sensor. On a warm day it can get clogged by sweat and give weird readings. I use a thin sweatband on the wrist and have the sensor resting on top of the sweatband - this has stopped the false altimeter readings.

[@farifherbalife]

Thanks...!!

[@MilefortheCamera]

Glad I could help!

[@jeffmahon8855]

How to get a damaged screen protector off?

[@MilefortheCamera]

Apparently that's quite a popular question! I looked into it and it seems rather difficult on the Garmin Instinct because the glass part of the watch is recessed. I saw some other videos online with different watches. In those videos the person was able to get a fingernail under a broken part of the screen protector and pry it off. Again, that's difficult with the Instinct. If I happen to find something I will circle back and let you know!

[@kecoakterbang2127]

Please help me. I have problem on connecting my watch to gps, even though I have connected my watch to garmin connect. Does anyone know how to solve it?

[@SurmaSampo]

Why are you asking on a random youtube channel instead of Garmin support? Also, even if someone wanted to help a random person commenting on a video you have not even provided any useful information about the details of the problem.

[@hnhgnjj6078]

So is it traceable?

[@MilefortheCamera]

Hmm, what do you mean by 'traceable'? The watch can track your movements using GPS. This is what most runners do to log their runs. But the GPS data is not publicly broadcast so that someone else can track your position via the watch. Does that help?

[@hnhgnjj6078]

@@MilefortheCamera ahhh okay it does I was wondering bc I see a lot of active duty recommending this watch

[@Winter3033]

What about Asia ?

[@jackbates3ify]

Can anyone explain why any of these GPS features are useful? Unless you running or just want to see how far you've travelled I can't see the point Can you use them on hikes as a guide or are they just tracking devices ?

[@MilefortheCamera]

I personally use it as a running watch, but is has many navigational features. Here is a video I made showing how to input GPS coordinates into the watch to find a destination: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZLKnKJsos14bZI

[@pk3]

If you have a planned hiking route you can save your hiking route and follow the course, so yes it can be used as a hiking guide or if you are randomly exploring a route in the woods you can track yourself so you know how to get back.

[@carzoparazzo9698]

GALILEO all the go!

[@Marius.1926]

Way this adventure watches not have emergency call?is ridiculous. The forunner 45 and 245 have this

[@SurmaSampo]

Seems like a solution looking for a problem.

[@martinpolach6171]

I’m slow ..SHOW ME Which button you are pressing !!!

[@IsuAsenjo]

This is pretty wrong, the ultratac is not less accurate, it's just updated less often. After a 100K run, Ultratac will STILL say "100K", but the route itself would have been updated less frequently. If there aren't lots and lots of curves, there's virtually no difference.

[@MilefortheCamera]

What I meant in my statement is that - if your route is complex (with lots of turns and switchbacks) then a tracking system that updates less often would not necessarily catch all those details and therefore would not have the same distance.

[@MilefortheCamera]

Here is a link to someone who did a relatively short bike ride (12 miles) with 2 watches, 1 on GPS and 1 with UltraTrac. His 2 files show a similar map but UltraTrac had 3 less miles than GPS. forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/instinct/154740/different-distance-with-gps-ultratrack

[@laughingalien]

@@MilefortheCamera Thank you, matey. It makes perfect sense. Less data means less accuracy.

[@branislavpetkovic]

Ultratrack is a total bshit. I'm satisfied with standard Gps mode in my Instinct but Ultratrack mode is simply tragic. First problem that it records less often and because of that draws long straight lines between points which shortens tracks significantly. Not usable for faster moving with a lot of turns like mountain biking. Second problem that it for some reason records multiple points far away from my track and because of that it can enlarge track length significantly. So it is not uncommon for slow movement like hiking to have 15% more or less in compare to actual length. Guess what, the same trek with mountain bike is a total disaster if you turn on ultratrack. Forget it.

[@MilefortheCamera]

@@branislavpetkovic Thanks for sharing your experience. This was my hunch when I looked into it for this video. I have kept my watch on GPS+Glonass or just GPS alone. These settings have worked perfectly fine for me, aside from occasionally having to wait for the watch to get a signal (which has happened on any Garmin I've owned)

[@rxonmymind8362]

"I want my watch to read 100 km at the end of 100 km race" Sheesh, so demanding. 😂 Not like you won't know where the finish line is. The race start finish is the marker but the time in your watch is the metric you want.

[@AlphaQHard]

These watches are way too confusing to use

[@khunhap3890]

5 buttons too complicated

[@SurmaSampo]

Needs to have only one button you smash with rock! Much easier.

[@kirkout7366]

Im lost already.

[@nobushan4100]

UltraTrac accuracy is really bad

[@user-Tinfoilhat]

Dude, you spoke waaayyyy tooo fast. There’s no reason to chew threw the material that quickly, esp for novices. Less caffeine.

[@dustinandsawyer7498]

Wasn’t that bad man. You can always rewind.

[@RichRich1955]

Ultratrac is horrible

[@MilefortheCamera]

I haven't used it much myself to be honest. What was your experience? Was it not accurate on trails or did it have the wrong distance after a long run?

[@Slothdeman]

What is the best option for UK??